International Women’s Day 2025: Storytelling in Modern Development Communications
Each year, a quick online search will bring up various versions of the International Women’s Day (IWD) campaign: the United Nations’ international campaign alongside their country-specific divisions such as UN Women Australia, the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA), and a well-known and widely used IWD campaign that (whilst it requires some digging to know who is behind it) manages to saturate the internet, social media and office morning teas each year on March 8.
However, between the parade of hashtags, social media content and corporate lunches lies a theme designed, however effectively, to give women a platform to share their experiences and achievements with the help of language and storytelling. There are, however, still missing voices from the wider, global narrative.
Empowerment, equality and representation are central themes in international development and development communications, serving as prompts or ‘hooks’ for programs and organisations to communicate what they are doing, what they aim to achieve and why. Communicating these themes and promoting gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) practices in communications work offers two opportunities:
Text: “1 Advocating for change.”
Text: “2 Communicating the benefits of change to everyone when it comes to gender equality.”
Using the platforms available to us – social media, websites and blogging, workshops and training – a creative storytelling approach to our communications can contribute to enhancing both access and agency for women and girls when it comes to not only receiving information, but contributing to the overall discussion.
Representation of women in our communications beyond the annual March 8 IWD campaigns is essential to building inclusive and diverse narratives. Living hand-in-hand with strategic language and storytelling, our communications can amplify experience, representation and support a more gender-equal future. The voice of women – their unique and authentic stories that champion achievement and empowerment – is essential to shaping narratives of equality and inclusion. As communications professionals, it is our role to embed the stories and voices of women and broader GEDSI practices in our strategies and content.
Identities and Career
A combination of gender and sexuality studies, research on Western contemporary feminism in literature, creative writing and my professional communications experience at EngagingDev has led me to a renewed perspective on the world of work and international development. As an early-career publisher with a background in university-level gender studies and inquiry, I am increasingly interested in storytelling in development communications. We can challenge traditional narratives, question dominant ideologies and create the space to appreciate intersectionality. Socially-conscious communications that reflect the identities and experiences of women across the globe allow us to not only reach broader audiences but connect and nurture deeper relationships.
This is something, I think, that professional and private campaigning tries to do however often misses the mark. Gender equality is often represented as glamorous for these events, such as corporate photoshoots and qualified professionals celebrating their achievements at company-funded lunches. The ABC themselves have expressed concern over IWD’s purpose and how the day has transformed into ‘morning teas and feel-good hashtags’, events that are ‘tokenistic’ and lack connection with the global feminist movement. Similarly, the IDWA rejected last year’s #InspireInclusion theme, again critiquing the corporate celebrations that cannot be justified and are ‘empty gestures’ that do not reflect the significant work yet to be done to achieve global gender equality:
There is a renewed importance, nonetheless, to value the identities that are represented in the classic campaigns, but to also amplify the voices of women across the world whose stories and experiences may not appear on Western campaign posters. Bringing attention to the United Nations’ international campaign, the transformation of women’s rights beyond equality and pay – noting the need for women’s and girls’ rights worldwide such as access to services and breaking outdated social norms everywhere – is essential to understanding the true scope of the IWD campaign.
Storytelling
Development communications is a powerful tool that can unify cultural and social gaps across the work we do, particularly with the appropriate language. When considered, language has the power to simplify complex issues such as gender equality and market them as something various groups can campaign for. It can empower communities by sharing experiences and narratives that they may not have had the platform to use before, and to share messages that are respectful to the context in which they are produced. It can contribute to a decolonising of narratives and, in so doing, open minds to realities. By crafting and publishing stories that drive social change and encourage reactions from our audience, we can realise our goal as communications professionals.
The varying campaigns, whilst focusing on different elements of women’s empowerment, align with our goal as communicators: to use language to advocate for rights and opportunities for marginalised groups worldwide. Each year, the UN’s IWD theme strives to encompass global issues and the fight for equality. From violence against women to economic and social empowerment, the UN’s language highlights the need for systemic change. In the development sector, the UN theme is more representative of the gender and inclusion work that is increasingly central to all that we do in international development.
Ahead
As a women-owned and operated organisation, EngagingDev is dedicated to GEDSI practices, supporting each of our programs to communicate partnership, inclusion and empowerment. As UN Women calls for a gender equal future, combined with the UN’s 2025 theme ‘For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.’, our team endorses and encourages gender equality in our work, our impact and in the stories we tell. The potential for narratives and experiences to be shared in the communications space is unmeasurable. While campaigns such as the various versions of IWD have a role play in promoting contributions that are inclusive, equal and empowering, it is ultimately in the stories we tell and experience of others that we amplify and share where we can contribute to lasting change.
Written by
Ashlee Simpson, Communications Officer.